lilbaggie's 1971 El Camino

Yep, cam went flat.

This is what a wiped lobe looks like (sorry, i didn't realize the picture was blurry until after i threw away the offending pieces in disgust):



A should NOT be concave and B should be ovoid, not round.

Those of you still using flat tappets, if you haven't already, make sure you're using a motor oil with the proper ZDDP content like a Joe Gibbs racing oil or use a Zinc additive with each oil change.

Update:
Finally took off the Edelbrock and bolted a Barry Grant Speed Demon 750. Wasn't happy with the performance on the Eddy and rather than chase its tail, decided to just bolt on a new carb. Found a good deal on the Demon. Ran a hard fuel line and heat shield.



Performance-wise, the carb is great. No more flat spots or off idle hesitation. Hooked up an 02 Sensor to the exhaust and the A/F settings were near perfect straight out the box. The Demon will on occasion be hard to start when cold (fires up, catches, idles for a sec and then dies, idles ok after second restart). Hopefully it's just a matter of not having the electric choke set properly. The Eddy never failed to fire right up, cold or not.

Mileage-wise, haven't noticed a big difference perhaps a slight drop in economy.

Craftmanship-wise, atrocious. I know why Summit stopped selling them awhile back and why BG went out of business. Had to partially rebuild a brand new carb. Unacceptable QA. Hopefully the new owners will make that priority one.

Overall though, I'm happy with the new carb…

And while I'm here, some updated finished interior shots with all the junk cleaned out:

lcochino

Thanks! My 71 was originally a bench seat, 3-spd column shifter so I added the console and horseshoe (and buckets) when I did the SS "cloning" phase of the car. All the SS items I added were original (not repro) pieces so the going rate for the console and shifter is anywhere from $275—475 depending on condition and completeness of the setup (seat belt holders, harnesses, shifter cable). I've seen lower than that but they're pretty rough.

I initially found a clean one for $300 on [email protected] but the seller decided to ship in it a box barely bigger than the console itself with about four packing peanuts for padding. He also mailed it with the shifter in place, LOOSE in its slot. Needless to say it did not do well in transit. Ended up having to scramble and settled for an already restored/rechromed one for $450. On the high end but the guy does many console restos and he also knew how to pack and ship them.

If you end up finding one that isn't local, be very specific about how it is packed and shipped. I heard a number of horror stories after the fact and it's always a shame when they don't arrive in the same condition they left in.

BTW, 5th gens do rule! Here's my 87: http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=39764

BTW, acceleration seemed to bog on hot days or longer stop and go trips. Just installed a sealed cowl induction air cleaner to see if it makes a difference…